Healing Open Wounds
by Ryshuki
Summary: When Sasuke leaves a small girl in Konoha bearing the Uchiha crest, he also leaves behind curious mysteries that will change the stubborn, destroy the indestructible, and redeem those whose actions were formally considered unforgivable. [OC]
1. Chapter 1

_Looking back, my very first memory after the amnesia was when I was four. Anything before that time when I first opened my eyes are not truly my memories; they pieces of an unfinished puzzle, a mystery, filled in by family forgotten, friends long dead… and enemies never quite gone._

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Shikamaru walked among the dozens of villagers, idly watching as they bustled about in the warmth of the newly rising sun. Yet, even amongst all of the friendly, forgiving villagers, he felt horribly alone. He felt like the failure he was.

He blamed Sasuke. If Sasuke had never betrayed Konoha, Shikamaru's latest mission would never have happened. Sakura would lose her depressed, lost look. Lee would not be in the hospital, near death yet again. Naruto would never have begun to give up his dream, would never have become obsessed only with saving his old friend. Most importantly, Chouji would never have taken the forbidden third pill. He would never have died.

Tears were coming fast with Shikamaru's guilt. He was the team leader. He had failed his friends. He had known the risks of leading a Sasuke Retrieval mission; he had known the likelihood of his own weakness. He knew that the mission should have been handled by an experienced jounin, yet he had insisted on leading it anyway. He had underestimated the enemy; he didn't kill Sasuke when he had the chance.

The emotional training Shikamaru had undergone did nothing to ease his stress. The feeling of utter failure and the feeling of his best friend, gone forever, was an experience no amount of training could ever possibly cover. It was a feeling Shikamaru could never forget about, a feeling he could never send off into the cloud and calmly contemplate.

Shikamaru tried to stop the tears. He couldn't let anyone else know of his weakness. If Tsunade knew of his emotionally instable condition, he might never be allowed on a Sasuke related mission again.

He needed desperately to face Chouji's killer. He needed to come to terms with the boy he had once admired and respected.

Unable to stifle his crying, Shikamaru lowered his head and turned into a dirty alleyway, one abandoned by the villagers. He sat on a turned-over garbage can, cradling his head and trying to wash thoughts of Chouji from his mind.

He took the few moments to compose himself, and as he leveled his shuddering breaths, he became aware of a chakra presence. Not just any chakra, though; it was a familiar signature, one he had become attuned to through what he considered overexposure.

Sasuke. Shikamaru blocked out his panic quickly, trying to gather his thoughts. Closing his eyes but keeping track of his enemy's chakra, Shikamaru deduced that Sasuke was sitting, not standing. But what did that mean? Was Sasuke so sure of his own speed that he hadn't bothered to stand? Did he mean to attack?

Shikamaru ignored Sasuke for the moment, exploring his own physical capabilities, instead. He was exhausted to the point of fainting, and if he chose to fight it would be a deadly decision. No help would be on the way to rescue him, as only Naruto was aware of his return. Yet he didn't see a way past Sasuke, out of the alleyway and into the safety of the open village. His life rested in Sasuke's hands, and Shikamaru's ability to keep talking, to delay the inevitable.

He opened his eyes, looking into the cold face, trying not to recoil from Sasuke's deadened eyes. He fought for anything to say, tongue-tied upon the previously longed for meeting.

Sasuke watched his old friend with silent curiosity for several moments, but grew quickly impatient at the display of weakness. His lips curled into an attempt at a smile that barely hid Sasuke's own regret at their last battle. He had surpassed his friends, but it didn't make him as happy as he had once thought. Sasuke had passed a point of no return, but it had gotten him nowhere closer to killing Itachi, and he still had found no way out of sacrificing his body to Orochimaru.

Sasuke reached down slowly for an object that had previously escaped Shikamaru's notice. Cursing silently, Shikamaru lurched to his feet, hands out defensively, but the raven haired boy was unfazed. He held the object up, and despite himself, Shikamaru's eyes left his enemy to focus on the unconscious figure.

It was a girl. She had long, thick black hair that tumbled down her frail frame. Her face was almost white in its paleness, contrasted by the black of her outfit and the Uchiha symbol, only partly revealed, on her back. She was young, but still she repelled Shikamaru. He had only ever been in contact with two Uchiha before- both were traitors and murderers. Besides, he knew of the clan's obliteration, and there was only one logical conclusion to the toddler's origins. Itachi.

No other Uchiha had survived but Sasuke and Itachi, and though Sasuke had many failings, Shikamaru seriously doubted the likelihood of his fathering a child even before leaving Konoha.

"I can't keep her. I didn't want her to begin with, and I can't keep her anyway." Sasuke explained, looking away from Shikamaru for the first time since his arrival. His voice became rapid, the clearly rehearsed speech jumbled. "Itachi dumped her on me, and I'm dumping her on you. I don't want her to take my path. I don't love her. I can't care for her. Her very existence repulses me. She'll have a better life in Konoha, and besides-"

"No." Shikamaru said firmly, repulsed himself. "If you leave her with me, I'll kill her. I cannot allow the Uchiha clan to revive itself, and that girl only increases the chance that it will. She is dead if you leave her with me, or in Konoha at all."

Sasuke stared sharply, not having expected such a reaction, but his features eventually softened with realization. "No, you wouldn't. You're too weak to kill somebody that helpless."

With that, Sasuke threw the girl at Shikamaru, who almost reflexively caught her. He disappeared, and Shikamaru cursed again at letting him go.

There was yet again only one decision to make, he decided. The girl was a threat to Konoha, and even letting her live wouldn't be doing her any favors. The villagers could never accept the Uchiha.

But there were two factors Shikamaru did not include in his analysis. The first was when the girl opened her eyes.

They were a pool of grey. Not a steel black or hard, darkened blue. They were a quiet, forgiving shade of grey, flecked with hints of green and light blue. They were filled with trust and devotion, framed by long lashes. They were utterly unlike Uchiha eyes.

The second was Naruto. Naruto, who still believed in Sasuke. Naruto, who could never resist meddling where he wasn't wanted.

**Author's Note: I like cliffhangers. Anyway, if you read this chapter, review! I'll update soon- probably a few chapters until I reach ten chapters, and then I'll set a fixed, weekly release day.**


	2. Ryshuki

_I remember after that a blonde framed face with deep, blue eyes. At first I thought him an animal, because of the whisker-like markings on his face. I was happy, because I recognized part of him. Not him as a person, but the look on his face, the look of pure loathing. It was such a familiar look, and it made me feel more comfortable. I told him my name. For some reason, I knew my fate was in his hands._

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Naruto walked quietly, steadily, ignoring his surroundings with a cool indifference. What was the point? Sasuke was gone, and even Shikamaru, the genius, could not bring him back.

Over the past few months, Naruto's imagination had gone awry, distorting the size of his friendship with Sasuke. They had been best friends, lifelong buddies and friendly rivals, but it was true that their parting had been violent and quite unfriendly. Yet Naruto's imagination expanded their friendship, made it seem as though losing Sasuke was like losing his own life.

Naruto had not left the boundaries of Konoha with a set mission, but his feet knew their way regardless. There was a small pond surrounded by shrubbery and an immense willow tree that he went often when he was feeling down. Unlike his Konoha comrades, Naruto chose to do his weeping in private, far from prying eyes. In public he was the same as always; happy, energetic, motivational, but it was a struggle to maintain his constant hyperness, to always be the dumb but lovable one.

He stopped, startled. Shikamaru was bent over the shimmering pond, holding a small girl in his arms, maybe a girl of about four years old. His face was set in steel, his eyes dull. He lowered the barely conscious girl to the water. Naruto yelped with a start, realizing what Shikamaru had in mind. He ran to the girl, knocking the unresponsive Shikamaru away.

Cradling her in his arms, he stared, bewildered, at her dark eyes and black hair. Her pale skin. Her frail frame. The tilt of her chin, stubborn even in her weakness. A sob caught in his throat.

"An Uchiha." he croaked, looking over at Shikamaru, who knelt on the ground, his face contorted in disgust, pity, and oddly, fear.

"You… you're judging her by her background, aren't you?" Naruto hissed, suddenly furious.

Shikamaru laughed. "Can you blame me, Uzumaki? She's the child of a murderer, a blood betrayer, niece to a traitor."

Naruto snarled, his eyes glinting with anger. "She is as much a murderer as I am a demon."

His statement was met with silence, finally broken by Naruto's almost plaintive plea. "I'll take care of her, Shikamaru, I will."

Shikamaru stared at his hands rather than at Naruto, contemplating the drowning he had almost followed through with. "She steps a toe out of line, she's banished," he warned needlessly.

Naruto nodded, "Unders-"

The girl moved feebly, interrupting her savior. "R-ryshuki… Uchiha Ryshuki…" she murmered, then closed her eyes.

**Author's note: This update was brought to you by something541's very motivational review. Reviews make me write. I'll try to update more regularly. xD**

**Those of you who remember my last story may recognize the name Ryshuki. I love that name, and I didn't want it to dissapear.**


	3. Ignored

_I was placed in the care of a young adult called Haruno Sakura. Her eyes never met mine, only stared over my head indifferently. She gave me food and water. She provided a place to sleep. That was all. I didn't know then how important she truly was to my survival, as Hokage. She protected me from assassination attempts. Even if I had known, I think I would still have preferred to die than to live in the loneliness._

_Time passed. I was in a daze- my memory cleared and faded, each moment fleeting. I would remember Sasuke, but then I would forget. I couldn't remember if my life depended on it if I like Sasuke, or Itachi._

_It didn't matter. I would not fit into Konohagakure no matter what I thought of my past caretakers. They thought me a traitor, for not giving Sakura-san information about Sasuke and Itachi. How, though, was it my fault? I could not remember._

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Sakura avoided Ryshuki whenever she could, unable to look into the girl's dark eyes without screaming silently. Who was this child, and was she Sasuke's or Itachi's?

She couldn't bear to think of Sasuke having a child with another woman, even though all bonds had been broken between them. She hated Sasuke, yet the lingering jealousy still took hold.

Sakura was busy as the new Hokage, and busy healing, constantly. The only wounds she could not heal were her own. There was a gaping hole left in the very depths of her soul from when Chouji had died, died on a mission she had forced Shikamaru into. Where Shikamaru went, Chouji followed, completely supportive.

Another wound was Lee. It had been six years since Ryshuki's arrival, and Lee was still in the hospital, in a coma. She knew it would be kinder to let the hurting man die, but she didn't want to let go of him, her childhood, the future they could have had together.

Sakura sighed, dropping her stack of papers onto the floor. She watched through dull eyes as they fluttered slowly, catching on the wind, and then falling in a swooping motion. She left them where they lay, moving to the window. She propped up her head, watching the children playing below.

She enjoyed watching their movements and patterns, and she knew each one like the back of her hand on a sunny day. Soon she would decide who was in which group, and they would each become a Genin.

She started suddenly as the children's familiar game broke off. They each were moving away from a shadowy shape. Sakura discreetly dropped to the balcony, watching from the confines of the yellow stone wall.

A young boy, Hatake Kurome, had stepped forward, glaring impudently at the shadowy shape… Ryshuki.

"You can't play with us," he told her loudly, and snickers came from his followers. Ryshuki stared, unmoving, into his face.

"I don't see why not. You have an odd number of players, Keigan's missing." She argued pointlessly. Kurome only scowled at her, turning his back. He dropped the ball, walking away. The others followed.

Ryshuki stood alone, tears streaming down her face. She picked up the rolling ball, hugged it, and fell to the ground, sobbing for the first time since she had arrived so long ago. Sakura swallowed.

She did nothing.

**Author's Note: I've been asked why I only mentioned one of my lovely reviewers when more than one posted. It's 'cause Something541 favorited me, and that made me feel very special. Even my last story was never favorited. **

**Also, it was mentioned that the second chapter was short. I plan on updating as frequently as possible, as in every time I'm near the computer. So there will be a lot of short, unedited chapters- I'll go back later and edit/add details. **


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